A follow-up inspection will be conducted Tuesday to determine whether Sagres Restaurant and the building’s upper apartments will need to be demolished.

“Is the building salvageable? We’ll see,” Fall River Building Inspector Joseph Biszko said Monday.

Workers removed overhanging debris from the block-long structure, which encompasses 177 to 189 Columbia St., in order to reopen the street Monday afternoon. Columbia Street had been blocked off since the fire damaged the building at 11:40 p.m. Saturday.

“It gives us a chance for the water to drop a little bit in the basement so we can get around and have a better look,” Biszko said.

The building sustained extensive fire and water damage. As for deciding what happens to the building next, Biszko said only time will tell.

“The entire top floor is gone,” Biszko said. “Then we have the apartments on the east and west sides that are totally gone. Some (apartments) are waterlogged but have a little bit of fire damage.”

Then there is the restaurant itself.

“The ceiling is collapsed,” Biszko said. “The entire restaurant is just waterlogged. Then there is the basement, and there are some issues down there to address. There was a lot of water going down into there.

“It looked like a mini Niagara Falls in a couple of spots,” Biszko added.

Fall River Police Officer Dwaine T. Cabeceiras wrote in his incident report that “due to the fire and the amount of water used to extinguish it, the building was deemed a total loss.”

Fall River Fire Lt. William Powers said an electrical short sparked the fire that displaced about 13 tenants in the building’s eight apartments. The large flames and heavy smoke could be seen for miles around. Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before bringing it under control early Sunday morning.

The American Red Cross assisted tenants at the scene.

Powers had planned to visit the building Monday to update the fire incident commander on the investigation.